Life, The Lily Maiden

Prof. V. K. Gokak
(Translated from the author’s Kannada poem)

One night when I sat deep in meditation,
Life, the Lily Maiden, came to me -
Life, the Lily Maiden.
With streaks of roses on her cheeks,
Led by the light-aspiring guide
Rejected by the maidens seven of heaven.
For he had dared hem all to test his love
When they had dared them all to test his love
When they had wished him one from them to choose.
And Life, the Lily Maiden, stood before me
While the guide waited silent at the door
And I, with bated breath,
Asked her why thus she stood revealed in glory
When aeons of prayer kept her still concealed:
“1 am the beloved you loved, oh! lover!
I am the destination and the guide!
You loved my rainbow colours and my flowers,
And worshipped all my gold of morn and eve,
You treasure up the saffron robes I wore
And hugged the rose-red prints of crimson feet.
Then did I whisper to myself:
Will not he love me who has loved what’s mine?
Will not he set the crown upon my head,
The crown inset with cressets of bright stars,
The crown of his soul-flame, of sweet consent?
And unto you I fled like the sun-beam
That, crystal-clear, enfolds the rainbow-colours.”
And unto her I spoke all quivering,
And said: “Oh! Lily Maiden! now I know
You as the moon that moulded all my dreams.
I will dare all you bid me, set the crown
Of my consent upon your head and be
Your second self to you; but tell me, maid,
Is that your only quest and dear desire?”
And unto this the maiden answered, saying:
“I  am the beloved you loved, oh! Lover!
I am the destination and the guide!
But to this day my birth had been a riddle.
In whose laps I lay, and in whose womb
I felt the stir! being, is all surmise.
But you have traced all matter to the root
And bathed amid the springs of being. Mankind
Lays bare its prodigies before your eyes
And yet its millions vanquish not your thirst!
You, who can read into the hearts of men
And find what star will glow above their heads,
Can well reveal to me whose daughter I am
And kiss my forehead as you crown my head.”
At which I wondered to myself
Whether I could imagine or divine
Her mystery. The light-aspiring guide
Well knew my mind and spoke in solemn tones:
“On! Youth! whose hand has held the jewelled crown
Of this enchanted maiden, listen to me,
The goldsmith who has known his metal, designs
Out of the same, a hundred patterns of gold.
The wind makes branches meet in many curves.
And one who knows the springs of being can fashion
Things wondrous-wise. Thus to have fashioned them
Is to have known the secret of all things.”
At that I rose and seated the Lily Maiden,
And crowned her with the crown of all my stars,
And said, kissing her forehead: “Live with me
And be the inspiration of my song,
Queen of my home and friend of my desires,
My enemy on the field, god of my fame,
Sadness and mirth and sorrow and joy by turn,
The weariness of life, its spring and summer-
I crown you with the crown of all my stars!
And to have lived thus measures half the truth.”
And so the Lily Maiden came to me;
And so I crowned her queen of all my being;
And so the light-aspiring guide retraced
His steps towards the maidens seven of heaven.